Fertility Lab Director Has Protocols that Let Her Sleep at Night

  Our laboratory director, at RMACT,  Dawn Kelk, PhD, sometimes tosses and turns at night. How come? Because as tight as her protocols are in the lab, she is always concerned about clerical error, patient error or any other type of error.

I have to tell you, that is my kind of lab director. Relaxed is a really good state of being in a lot of places. The person handling my embryos doesn't need to be that relaxed. She needs to be really, really diligent. And even more than that, she needs to have procedures and protocols in place to catch anyone when for a moment they are not being diligent. That's right, the yoga teacher's into procedures and protocols. Me, I should be relaxed when I teach you, guide you through gentle poses and guided meditation. Dawn, we want diligent. Tomorrow, you will get to hear first hand from her what the procedures are that are followed, every single time.  

Some of us feel like the lab is a big, black hole where our sperm and eggs disappear, someone waves a magic wand and they reappear as embryos. I think while a lot of us understand how the actual procedures work; some of it is an enigma. Lab culture, co-culture, how is an embryo graded, what does the grading mean, how are the embryo's stored. Dr. Kelk is going to start a conversation with you, tomorrow, with the basics of lag procedure. I love it because it's a great way for you to relax, to know that she is on top of how her lab is run, how things are checked, rechecked, triple checked, quadruple checked, and even then sometimes tosses and turns at night, worrying about you.

Great time to ask questions as well, as this is a conversation. We want you to feel comfortable, and yes, relaxed about how your embryos are being handled. So ask away!